


Tumblr Prompt Fills

by arekiras



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: F/F, Ficlet Collection, M/M, Tumblr Prompt, prompt fills
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-03-29 07:57:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 8,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13922766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arekiras/pseuds/arekiras
Summary: a collection of short tumblr ask prompt fills. find me on tumblr @autisticalecs and feel free to make a request!





	1. Magnus/Alec- "do you regret it?"

> “That’s it, we’re getting a divorce,” Magnus says firmly to Alec, who laughs. 
> 
> “I’m just saying. Licorice isn’t  _that_  bad. Like compared to other things,” Alec raises his hands defensively. He plunges his hand into the mixed bag of candy Magnus is carrying, picking out a licorice gummy and popping it into his mouth. 
> 
> Magnus makes a face of disgust, and says, “I’m never kissing you again. I can’t believe this is how you repay me for my years of love and devotion.” 
> 
> “Do you regret it?” Alec asks, mouth stained purple with candy coloring. 
> 
> “Wholeheartedly.” Magnus takes Alec’s hand and they continue down the street. 


	2. Simon/Jace- "sometimes, being a complete nerd comes in handy."

“Close your mouth,” Alec hisses, jabbing Jace in the ribs and laughing. Jace doesn’t acknowledge him. He’s too busy looking at Simon on the stage of the mundane bar he booked a gig at on the night before Halloween. Everyone in the crowd is in costume, Jace himself having stolen on of Simon’s Captain America shirts before setting out that evening. 

But he didn’t stop to think about what Simon would be wearing. If he had, he would’ve assumed Star Wars, maybe. Not  _this_. 

Simon has his real fangs on full display when he grins at the crowd, but the mundanes will only think they’re an expensive pair of fakes. He’s wearing leather pants, or fake leather pants, but the point is that they’re nearly painted on, and a loose white shirt that leaves his chest exposed. The jacket over it is long and gray, accented with buckles. His hair is wild and gelled into place. 

Simon catches his eye and winks, and Jace thinks he might pass out. 

The set goes by in a blur, Simon’s voice as wonder as ever, the crowd cheering like they should be, and then Clary is pulling Jace by the hand backstage to throw her arms around Simon and shout into his ear about how good he was. When she pulls away he has some of her face paint on his neck. 

“What’re you supposed to be?” Jace asks, shuffling close to Simon. 

“Vampire Lestat. You like it?” Simon beams, clearly pleased with himself. Jace glares hard at him. “Sometimes, being a complete nerd comes in handy I guess.” 

“Shut up,” Jace rolls his eyes, and pulls Simon in by the jacket for a kiss. 


	3. Magnus/Alec- "you're trembling."

Alec hears the front door slam open, over an hour later than Magnus was meant to arrive home. The lateness isn’t unusual, they didn’t have plans and Magnus’s business can often go much longer than expected. The way Magnus slumps against the wall of the entryway while he kicks off his shoes and the sheen of sweat across his forehead, however, is. 

“Hey?” Alec calls, walking over to kiss Magnus, and also to get a look at him. He’s radiating heat and holds onto Alec a bit more firmly than usual after he pulls away. “You alright?” 

“I’m fine,” Magnus says, stepping away from him and making for the sitting room, collapsing to the couch unsteadily. 

“You’re trembling,” Alec says, sitting next to Magnus.

Magnus clenches his hands into fists to hide the way they shake, and Alec takes one of them, massaging his fingers open and squeezing his palm. 

“I may have overdone it today,” Magnus allows, after a moment. 

Alec arches an eyebrow, “You think so?” Magnus sighs and tilts his head back against the couch. “Steak?” 

“Medium-rare.”


	4. Magnus/Alec- "it's three in the morning"/"are you drunk?"

Magnus is awake when his phone buzzes with an incoming call. He’s glaring down at an old book, furious with the warlock who wrote it for not having more legible handwriting, fingers poised over his keyboard to type the passage. 

When he sees Alec’s name on the screen, he frowns, but answers. “Magnus!” Alec shouts, happily, before Magnus can speak. 

“Alexander,” Magnus replies, holding the phone a bit away from his ear. “I thought you were spending time with Jace and Isabelle?” 

“I am, I  _was_ , but I have something important to tell you,” Alec says, and takes a deep breath in, “I love you.” 

Magnus blinks once, and says, “It’s three in the morning.” 

“And I love you,” Alec insists earnestly. 

“I love you too. Are you drunk?” Magnus asks. 

“Yeah. But I love you when I’m not drunk, too,” Alec admits. 

“I’m happy to hear it. Are you with Isabelle and Jace still?” Magnus doesn’t think that Isabelle and Jace would intentionally allow Alec to wander off when he’s this inebriated, but he’s a slippery drunk. 

“No. I’m a block away from home,” Alec says. “I just wanted to call and make sure you knew.” 

“I know,” Magnus assures him, smiling. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.” 

“Okay. I love you,” Alec says again. 

“I love you too.” 

“I love you.” 

Magnus stifles a laugh, knowing how much Alec hates being laughed at when he’s trying to be sweet. “I love you  _too_ , Alexander. Hang up and come home.” 


	5. Jace/Simon- "it's three in the morning."

Jace wakes up tangled in his sheets, slick with sweat and unable to breathe. The room is hot, stifling. He kicks the covers off and throws himself out of bed, falling on his stomach to the floor to press his face against the cool wood. After a moment, he rolls onto his back and breathes in deep, ineffective breaths. 

He keeps his eyes open and fixed on the ceiling, trying to drive the disturbing images from his dream out of his mind. If he doesn’t blink, he might not see them. It’s always the same, really. Valentine, the white-hot blade of the Soul Sword, bodies and blood. 

After a while, he manages to sit up and fumble on his dresser for his phone, blinking at the sudden brightness. 

Simon answers on the eighth ring. “Hey, man. You alright?” 

Jace stays quiet for a moment, but then clears his throat. “I guess so. Had a dream.” 

“Same dream?” Simon asks, and Jace can hear the worry. 

“Yeah.” 

“Alright. I’m coming over,” Simon says, and there’s shuffling in the background. 

“It’s three in the morning, Simon,” Jace argues, leaning back against his bed. 

“I’ll be right there. Sit tight,” Simon says, and hangs up. Jace takes the phone away from his face, and doesn’t smile, but feels his chest settle just a little bit.


	6. Jace/Simon- "i don't want to screw this up."

Jace has been quiet for a long time. Not that he can get a word in edgewise, with Simon, but they’ve held hands and walked under the cold bare trees for the better part of an hour and Jace hasn’t said a word. 

“-and that’s how I found out I was allergic to clay. Jace?” Simon pulls them both to a stop, gloved hands clasped tight together. Jace makes a surprised noise, but looks over at Simon dazedly, and Simon knows he’s pulled him out of a serious thought. 

“Sorry,” Jace says, smiling nervously. 

“What’re you thinking?” Simon asks, reaching out and smoothing the crease between Jace’s eyebrows with his thumb. A few months ago he was so worried about touching Jace like this, but now Jace leans into it. 

“About you. Us,” Jace says.

“Good things?” Simon asks hopefully, smiling also. 

Jace clears his throat and pulls Simon to sit on a bench, the cold of the metal seeping through his jeans and bringing him clarity. 

“Not good things?” Simon looks at Jace worriedly, and Jace shakes his head, taking his hand away from Simon to pull off his gloves and run his fingers through his hair, looking at the white November sky. 

“I don’t want to screw this up,” Jace say finally. Simon just looks at him curiously, for once holding his tongue. “Alec, you know, he’s. He’s doing really well. With Magnus. With himself, who he is. But me. I’ve never known who I was. I always wanted what other people wanted me to want, this is really confusing. Us. I don’t want to mess it up.” 

“I don’t think you could mess it up if you tried,” Simon says with a grin. 

“I love you, Simon,” Jace’s breath ghosts out into the cold air, and Simon swears even the birds stand still. Simon beams.

“I love you, too, Jace.”


	7. Jace/Simon- "we need to talk about what happened last night."

Jace is snoring peacefully into Simon’s pillow, hair everywhere and mouth wide open, when Simon prods him awake. Jace clears his throat, rolling to his back and looking up at Simon with bleary eyes. He’s dressed in some graphic shirt and blue boxers, clearly having just woken up himself. 

“We need to talk about what happened last night,” Simon says seriously. 

“Uh, okay,” Jace says, sitting up and attempting to appear more awake than he is. 

“It’s not that I don’t like it, but I’m not sure I’m ready,” Simon says, sitting on the bed next to Jace. Jace’s eyes widen and he really wishes he had been given more time to prepare.

Jace is about to try and respond, mouth working to form words, when Simon reaches over and plops a small purring ball of fluff in his lap. Jace recognizes it as the stray kitten he brought over last night on a whim, having found it in an alley on his way. 

“A pet is a serious responsibility, Jace. I live in a boathouse. I drink blood to live. I don’t think I can keep it,” Simon says solemnly, and Jace snorts out a laugh as the kitten begins to knead the blanket pooled in his lap. 

“What? Jace, come on, be serious,” Simon glares at him. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. It’s just, I thought you were talking about the sex,” Jace manages to say, petting the kitten’s head. 

“ _Oh_. No, I think we’re mostly on the same page there.”


	8. Magnus/Alec- "people are staring."

Alec has far too many memories of boring, stuffy nights with his parents at Clave gatherings. Social events consisting of dinner and chatter with the oldest and most prominent Shadowhunter families. They always include suits, bland food, blander conversation, and a tongue bitten raw. 

Jace and Isabelle look utterly miserable, though they turn up the charm to the guests. The New York Institute is hosting a week long conference, and it’s been taxing. Alec is up to his ears in neglected paperwork, not to mention the strain on resources it’s been to house this many more Shadowhunters in the Institute. 

Alec excuses himself from the group conversation he had long since stopped trying to engage in, and walks across the ballroom to the only thing making the evening bearable: Magnus Bane in a suit. 

Magnus is conferring with Raj and a representative from the Cairo Institute, but he smiles at Alec as he approaches. The conversation ends, and Alec steps into Magnus’ space, sighing a little. This close, the room seems a little less full, the tension in his neck less noticeable than it was a moment ago. 

“Enjoying yourself?” Magnus asks with a smile. 

“Yeah; there’s nowhere else I’d rather be,” Alec agrees, linking his fingers with Magnus’ distractedly. He leans in, pleased when Magnus meets him halfway in a kiss. It’s short, and chaste, but they stay very close after, breathing each other’s air. 

“People are staring,” Magnus says, leaning back. 

Alec rolls his eyes. “What, am I not allowed to kiss my husband?” Alec catches the band around Magnus’ left ring finger. 

“No arguing with that logic,” Magnus admits, and leans in again. 


	9. Magnus/Alec- "come here."

Alec cracks an eye open, squinting into the warm orange mid-afternoon light. His body is still heavy with heat, but he senses movement on the balcony. After a few blinks, he spots Magnus near the door, clearly trying to sneak away after collecting a few leaves from one of his plants he has out in the sun. 

“Come here,” Alec says, voice cracking. He clears his throat and throws a hand out, beckoning him. 

Magnus comes to stand in front of him, blocking the sun. His face is in shadow, but Alec suspects that he’s smiling. Alec waves again, and Magnus scoffs doubtfully. 

The settee on the balcony is not meant for two grown men to share. It’s not even really meant for two children to lay on comfortably, Alec’s legs dangle ridiculously off one end. 

“‘S warm,” Alec says enticingly. 

“It’s also from IKEA, not exactly indestructible,” Magnus replies, but lowers himself down anyway, and they shift until they’re both piled on top of each other, Alec’s head wedged into Magnus’s shoulder and Magnus’s leg hanging off the side of the settee. A leg of the couch creaks dangerously, but then settles. 

“We fit,” Alec mumbles, pressing his face into Magnus’s shirt, basking in the warmth of the sun and of the body next to him. 


	10. Jace/Simon- "people are staring."

“Jace, you’re a grown man,” Simon says pragmatically, hands under Jace’s knees to keep him from falling after he leapt onto Simon’s back. 

“A grown man who wants to be carried,” Jace replies, settling his chin on Simon’s shoulder. 

Simon sighs, but takes a step. “You hunt demons for a living. You can handle walking to get gyros.” Jace only laughs, tightening his grip. “People are staring,” Simon tries. 

“Let them stare. Straight couples do this all the time,” Jace points out, waving at a teenage girl who passes by them, giggling at the two. 

“I’ll carry you back,” Jace offers. 

Simon groans again, but says, “Fine.” And sets off at a steady pace up the sidewalk, grinning when Jace presses a kiss to the side of his head. 


	11. Magnus/Alec- "lie to me, then."

For the first time in his life, Alec looks at Isabelle and sees a warrior instead of his sister. He’s seen her in fights, he’s seen her bleeding, he’s seen her planning and conniving. But it’s different, now, somehow. 

Everything is a war. War on the Clave for reform, war against the faeries, war against demons, war among each other. Isabelle, the new Weapons’ Master of the Institute, is a soldier as much as anyone is. As much as he is, he thinks, tightening his hand around his bow. 

Alec looks away from Isabelle, and at Magnus. Magnus, even among a hundred souls preparing for battle, does not look like a soldier. A warrior, yes. Powerful, yes. But not like he’s ready to follow. Magnus always looks like he’s ready to lead. 

After he finishes tightening his wrist guard, Alec makes his way over to Magnus, stood speaking lowly with Luke. Luke turns to Maia, who then turns to the rest of the pack who chose to come, and Magnus turns to Alec. 

“You think it’ll be ok?” Alec asks quietly. 

Magnus is quiet for a long moment, and then says, “Total transparency?” Alec nods stiffly, and Magnus says, “I don’t know.” 

Alec grits his teeth, and says, “Lie to me, then.” 

“It’ll be ok,” Magnus says, “We’ll win this battle, and the next and the next. We’ll win the war. All of us will come out on the other side unscathed, no worse for wear. We will not lose anything we cannot bear to. And then we’ll go home, and be able to forget the world was ever like this at all.” 

Alec nods again, as the Institute sirens begin to blare and the room glows red. He leans in, kissing Magnus hard, and then sets off to prove him right.


	12. Jace/Simon- "you don't see me"

“You don’t see me,” Simon says, waving his hand in front of Jace’s face, a look of concentration taking over his entire expression. 

“Yes, I do,” Jace says, knocking his hand out of his face. 

“No, you really don’t,” Simon brings his hand back up, scrunching is nose hard for emphasis. 

“I do, and I will no matter how constipated you look over it,” Jace says, stepping back from Simon, who sighs in aggravation. 

“You weren’t supposed to be home until later!” Simon accuses, putting his hand down, shoving a suspicious looking wrapped gift further behind his back, pressed against the wall of their apartment building. 

Jace shrugs, “It’s my birthday, I got off early. I thought you’d be happy.” 

Simon groans, and then breaks, “Ok, you can’t tell anyone that I told you, but we’re all planning a surprise party. All of us, everyone is in the apartment. And it  _can’t_  be my fault that it’s spoiled, I didn’t know you’d be home! So I came out to get one of your presents, and I ran into you.” 

Jace blinks, but doesn’t reply right away. 

“Look, do me a favor. Wait five minutes and then come up, open the door, and act totally surprised,” Simon pleads. 

“Ok,” Jace says slowly. 

“Happy birthday,” Simon says, and kisses Jace sweetly before dashing down the hall toward their door.


	13. Clary/Maia- "people are staring."

“Hey, stranger,” Maia says, sliding up to the bar across from Clary, who looks at her with a shining smile. “Here for Simon?” 

Clary pulls out her sketchbook from her bag and shakes her head, “Not tonight. Need some practice, I’m getting rusty.” 

Maia gestures to the relatively full bar with open hands, “Knock yourself out. Drink?” Clary nods and leans against the bar, pulling out some pencils and hunching over her sketchbook. First, she draws some shapes; the rows of bottles behind the bar, backs bowed over the pool tables, a recently abandoned table. 

Then, people; bar patrons slumped over drinks, people with raucous expressions. Clary finds that since her last encounter with Valentine, drawing really brings her out of her head. Focusing on a subject other than herself is therapeutic. 

Eventually, Maia wonders back over, leaning over to see what Clary’s drawing. Clary turns red around the ears, and Maia gets an eye-full of a detailed drawing of herself. Behind the bar, emphasis on her mouth and eyes. Drawing-Maia is staring out at the viewer, expression calculating. Real life-Maia looks up at Clary and realizes she’s drawn closer, orange hair like a curtain hiding them both. 

“People are staring,” Clary mumbles, cheeks pink. 

Maia lifts a shoulder, one side of her mouth twitching up. She moves back long enough to set a drink in front of Clary, saying, “On the house. Nice drawing.” She even winks, and Clary sips from her drink, her blush not fading a bit.


	14. Clary/Isabelle- "you're in love with her."

“She’s so  _stupid_! She almost got herself killed tonight because she couldn’t let well enough alone. I can’t believe she never thinks about anything but herself in the moment,” Izzy rants, pacing back and forth in between sparring sessions with Alec, glaring at the floor in front of her. 

“Sounds like Clary to me,” Alec says, swinging at her with his staff. Isabelle blocks him, and shoves with more force than she intended, actually making him lose his footing. 

He gets his balance back and jabs at her. She jumps out of the way and continues, “She doesn’t stop to think about other people. I had to save her.”

“ _Had to_  is a strong phrase,” Alec replies lowly, earning himself a crack to the side of his head and an admonishing look. 

“Of course I had to. She’s Clary. She doesn’t think about other people worrying about her, but other people do. Other people want to look out for her, and have her back, and help her, if she’d ever stop and let them in,” Isabelle says, bracing her staff and leaning against it. 

Alec drops his defensive stance and says, “And do other people plan on telling her about how they feel?” 

“What do you mean?” 

His raises an unimpressed eyebrow, and says, “You’re in love with her.” 

Isabelle opens her mouth to argue, throwing back her shoulders to disagree, but then looks at Alec. It’s Alec she’s talking to, and she can tell him anything. “I don’t know. I feel something, definitely. Aside from worry. She’s just so much. It’s so much.” 

Alec sighs at her, very deliberately. “She doesn’t deserve you.” 

“Does anyone?” Isabelle flashes him a confident smile, but then it falters. “Do I tell her?” 

“I don’t know, saving love confessions for near-death experiences has worked well for me,” Alec says with a diplomatic shrug. Isabelle laughs, and Alec smiles. “If she rejects you, we can always kill her.” 

Isabelle nods thoughtfully, and then kisses his cheek. “Thanks, Alec,” she says, and then heads for the infirmary. Clary is there, still being patched up after her encounter with several massive demon hybrids. 

“Clary?” Isabelle says, and Clary looks up from her healing rune sheepishly. “Can we talk?” Clary nods and waves Isabelle in, and Isabelle closes the door behind herself. 


	15. Magnus/Alec- "was that supposed to hurt?"

After so many months, proximity shouldn’t be this taxing on him. However, Magnus close in his space, shining with sweat and grasping hard at his arm is possibly the worst and best thing that’s ever happened to him. 

Alec gets a tighter grip on the sparring stick in his hand, approximately the size of a seraph blade, and shoves hard against Magnus, planting his feet. He twists his arm out of Magnus’s hand and elbows him in the chest as he stumbles back. 

Magnus regains his footing and looks at Alec with a grin, “Was that supposed to hurt?” 

Alec shoves his sweaty hair out of his face and rolls his eyes. “Show off,” he mutters.


	16. Jace/Maia- "i can't keep kissing strangers and pretending that they're you."

> Jace didn’t go to the Hunter’s Moon until after closing, standing on the sidewalk waiting in the cold, shoulders hunched. He had texted Maia around midnight. It was short, curt even:  _Need to see you. When are you free?_  But if he hadn’t stopped there the words wouldn’t stop pouring.
> 
> Maia emerges from the bar a few moments later, wrapped in a pea coat and shimmery red scarf, locking up behind herself. “Hey,” he breathes when she comes up to him.
> 
> “Hey yourself. What’s up, Jace?” Maia asks, crossing her arms. She’s close, but feels unapproachable. 
> 
> Jace swallows, jamming his hands in his pockets. “I’ve been thinking about you,” he says, and Maia tilts her head. “About what happened.” And happened, and happened, and happened. Late at night after patrols and a night shift, early mornings before class for Maia, once during Jace’s lunch break. Whispers of  _this doesn’t mean anything_. It’s not just Maia, it’s him. He can’t ever be honest with himself until it’s too late.
> 
> “What happened, Jace?” Maia asks, sticking her chin out. 
> 
> “Nothing’s the same. I can’t- I can’t. I can’t keep lying. I can’t keep trying to wait it out. I can’t keep kissing strangers and pretending that they’re you,” Jace says, and looks down to Maia’s jacket, then back up to her face. Her eyes are dark, brows slightly furrowed. “I had to tell you.” 
> 
> Maia sighs, some tension bleeding out of her. “Me too,” she says, and before Jace can wonder, she adds, “Come here.” Her hands are cold around the back of his neck, but her mouth is wonderously warm against his, and he sinks into the kiss. And the next, and the next, and the next.


	17. Magnus/Alec- vacation prompt

Cutting out four days where both the High Warlock of Brooklyn and the Head of the New York Institute could take leave was a feat of Olympian proportions. Even with Valentine dead and the war three years past, life refused to settle. 

What was meant to be a late summer vacation turned into a mid autumn one, the trees all in their orange and red glory and the air biting. But today’s the day. Alec has heard that statement three times already that morning. Isabelle, chirping it over the phone as he delivers a few last minute instructions before he departs. Magnus, whispering it while they were still in bed that morning, tangled together with the window open so they’d have to get just that much closer. 

Just then, he says it quietly to himself, twisting his wedding band around his left ring finger. 

 _Today’s the day._  

They settled on a destination a little closer to home than the original Iceland plan, and it made Alec happy. Plenty could be said for the benefits of portal travel, but Alec still thinks that international travel is something of a headache. 

Magnus comes to stand next to Alec in the living room, tightening his scarf. “Ready when you are, Alexander,” he says, smiling. 

Alec smiles back, and makes a go ahead gesture. Magnus breaks open a portal and goes first with the coffees while Alec follows with the luggage. 

The Colorado mountain air is crisp, almost painful. Thin and clean, it burns Alec’s lungs a bit with the sharpness of it. They stepped through to a small mountain town, little known and therefor not terribly overrun with tourists. The trees are brilliant oranges, reds, yellows and pinks and the sky is blue-white. Snow drifts gently along, but the sidewalk and street are well salted. 

It’s not wet and clumpy like the New York snow. Colorado snow is like powder. Alec is glad for the hot coffee Magnus hands him, wrapping his stubbornly gloveless hands around the thermos. Magnus teases him, but he still can’t help but want everyone to be able to see his wedding ring. 

The town square is busy enough, colorful little square shops with shutters and tightly closed doors to keep the heat in releasing a healthy flow of people carrying their shopping. 

They walk up the steeply inclined street to the happy little inn Magnus booked for them. It’s a bed and breakfast, a far cry from some of the five star luxury suits Alec has been treated to, but it’s nice. Warm and clean. The woman at the desk gives them their key and directions to the newly opened dispensary a block away. 

The room has wood paneled walls and a functioning brick fireplace. The bed is large and firm, the quilt covering it only moderately scratchy. Magnus starts a fire with a snap and unwinds his scarf while Alec dumps their bags on the floor. 

“Best part about this place?” Magnus says, approaching Alec and pulling him close by the ends of his scarf. 

“What?” Alec asks, hands going to Magnus’s coat lapels. 

“No signal,” Magnus grins, leaning in and kissing him.


	18. Magnus/Alec- alec referring to magnus as family

Magnus has found himself up to his eyebrows in reorganizing his bookshelves, a scroll in one hand and a binder in the other. Alec’s voice begins to filter through his thoughtful haze, but it isn’t until Alec says his name for the third time that he actually looks up. He peers at Alec over the rims of his reading glasses. 

“Did you hear any of that?” Alec asks, leaning in the doorway. 

Magnus blinks, thinking for a moment, before admitting, “No, not really.” 

Alec huffs out a laugh, and moves into the room, leaning against Magnus’ desk. 

“I  _said_ , Max’s birthday party is tonight. It’s sort of last minute, but his birthday is tomorrow and, well. Considering the last time we tried to have a party for him, we decided to keep it small. Movie night at the Institute, just family,” Alec repeats himself. 

“Okay,” Magnus says, setting his scroll and binder neatly into their new places. “When should I expect you home?” It’s just as well, really. He has some work he’s been neglecting. 

Alec visibly deflates. “Do you not want to come?”

Magnus frowns at him. “You said it was just family.” 

“Yeah? You’re my family,” Alec says simply. 

Magnus takes off his glasses to look at Alec fully, stepping away from his work. “Oh,” he says. 

Alec grins, wide and happy. “Of course you are, Magnus. You’re the love of my life, you’re a part of my family.” 

Magnus really thinks that one day Alec’s earnest declarations are going to kill him. It’s the sincerity of it. They way he looks hard at Magnus and leans in a little, like he wants to do more than speak his truth. Like if it could, his heart would burst from his chest. 

“You’re a part of mine, too,” Magnus replies after a tick, smiling back. 

He clears his throat, and the momentary solemnity dissipates. He crosses the floor to Alec, looping his arm around his waist as they leave the room. “What do young Shadowhunters want for their birthdays? Flame throwers?” 

“When I was eleven I got adamas infused brass knuckles,” Alec says helpfully. 

“Just what every child needs.”


	19. Magnus/Alec- tipsy alec

A few moments more pass before Magnus feels the press of something against his wards. He has them around the entire building, but Alec is always allowed in. Magnus always knows when he’s near, and it always feels warm in his chest. 

The door opens, crashes against the wall and then hits the wall again when Alec stumbles against it. He spends a while trying to wrestle his shoes off of his feet, the laces giving him trouble, before he closes the door behind him and very carefully hangs up his jacket. 

Magnus only has to take one look at him to know that Jace and Isabelle got him well and properly fucked up. His cheeks and ears are tinged pink and his movements are all slowed down, he seems to be existing a few seconds behind the rest of the world. His smile is big and glowing when he sees Magnus. 

“ _Hey!_ ” he whisper-shouts, as if they weren’t just on the phone a few minutes ago. 

Magnus accepts Alec’s kiss, which was slightly miss-aimed and lands on the corner of his mouth, and then laughs when Alec tucks his chin over Magnus’ shoulder in a long hug. 

“I missed you,” he says, pulling away, a little more somber than he was at the door. 

“You just saw me this afternoon,” Magnus points out, but this doesn’t seem to be the answer Alec was looking for. “I missed you too, Alexander.” This pleases Alec and he stays in Magnus’ space, bobbing a little to his own tune. 

Magnus puts his hand on Alec’s shoulder, rubbing his thumb across the wrinkled sleeve of the shirt he’s wearing. “Jace and Isabelle shouldn’t have let you go out like this,” Magnus says, “How bad off were they?” 

Alec shrugs. “They seemed happy when I left. ‘Nd I’m fine. I’m here,” Alec pauses for effect before poking Magnus in the chest, “with you.” 

Magnus laughs and kisses Alec again, landing it on the mouth this time. “I love you,” Alec says lowly, noses pressed together. 

“I love you, too,” Magnus replies, taking Alec’s hand. 


	20. Magnus/Alec- pda

Alec Lightwood is touch starved. No amount of hugs from his siblings or mother can ever relieve the ache in his chest, the need for some form of affection. He thinks it’s some kind of leftover childishness, really. Shadowhunters don’t spend too much time _snuggling_ , and so he ignores it. 

The first time he kisses Magnus Bane at his own sham of a wedding, every nerve ending in his body sings. 

The first time he feels brave enough to take Magnus’ hand when they walk back to the loft one evening, his chest constricts. Magnus squeezes his fingers and smiles at him, and Alec’s heart glows. 

It starts like that, Alec holding Magnus’ hand whenever he can. While they’re walking, in bars, over tables, when they sit next to each other. 

When Alec kisses Magnus in front of people for the second time, it’s on a subway. He doesn’t often take the subway, but it was easier than walking and it felt silly to portal such a short distance. The trip would only prolong their date. 

Magnus is saying something, something clever. About a client, maybe. Alec was listening, he  _was_ , but then he felt that thing in his chest again. The pulling, the compression of his heart against his ribs, the thing that says  _why aren’t you kissing him right now?_  And so, once Magnus is done, Alec leans in and kisses him. Chastely, but firmly. 

He pulls away, feeling eyes on him in the prickling hairs on the back of his neck. Only one or two people are actually looking, he realizes with a cursory glance. People on the subway have other things to worry about aside from two men kissing. Alec really doesn’t mind. 

He’s waited 23 years to kiss a man at all. If he wants to do it where people can see him, then that’s his prerogative. Alec goes back and kisses Magnus again. 

This time when he pulls away and plans to keep his mouth to himself until their stop. Magnus follows him when he leans back, and then grins. He cups Alec’s cheek and brings him back in, still smiling.


	21. Magnus&Ragnor- magnus' rings

Only Ragnor could ever manage to look downright disdainful when giving a present. A present no one even asked for. It’s a surprise, as is Ragnor’s presence in Magnus’ loft at all. 

But Ragnor is positively put upon by the whole visit, it seems, heading straight for the dry bar and throwing himself onto the couch with a huff. “Well?” he says, looking pointedly at Magnus, who still stands at the door holding a parcel and wearing a dressing gown. It’s also half after six in the morning. 

Magnus’ teeth click together as he closes the door, turning to Ragnor with a bland smile. 

“What’s the occasion?” Magnus asks, folding his arms and leaning against the wall. 

“Unlike  _some_  people, I don’t forget my oldest friends’ birthdays,” Ragnor says shortly. 

Magnus doesn’t even bother arguing that it was only  _one time_ , three decades ago even, because he’s too busy frowning. He glances outside the window. White morning glow, fog, snow falling steadily. December it is, then. 

After several centuries worth of birthdays, one ceases bothering with them. Or even acknowledging that they’ve passed. For Magnus, it’s easier to do the math to pinpoint his exact age than keep up with an annual celebration. Not that he usually wants to recall his exact age. 

“But you forget that your oldest friends don’t like to rise with the sun?” Magnus opens the parcel, wrapped in brown paper. Inside is a small wooden box and inside the box, nestled in velvet, are two rings. Both are silver, but one is monogrammed with a script  _M_  and the other with a _B_. 

“Only the most pompous of asses would wear monogrammed anything in the 21st century. It suits you,” Ragnor says. Magnus laughs, sliding them onto his forefinger and ring finger. 


	22. Magnus/Alec- "i didn't know you could make a flower crown."

Alec isn’t really sure where they are. Well, he knows the specific location. As far as the eye can see, a field of green and white and pink stretches. It seems that Magnus landed them in the very middle of a flower field. It was early evening when they left Brooklyn, but the sun is only a little past the noon mark above them. They both kicked their shoes off several hours ago and are reclining on a blanket in the flowers, a basket between them containing wine and fruit and cheese. 

Magnus has his eyes closed, hands on his chest and is talking about work. Alec is listening, but he’s also very focused on the complex tangle of flower buds and stems he’s rendering into a circlet. Finally satisfied with his assortment, a frankly very complicated combination of white and pink flowers knotted together by stems and some loose buds sticking out, he nudges Magnus to get his attention. 

Squinting in the yellow light, Magnus peers at Alec’s offering for a moment before taking it and sitting up. 

“I didn’t know you could make a flower crown,” he says, planting it on his head with a grin. 

“Isabelle always wanted to be queen of the castle when we were kids,” Alec explains, beginning to tie one together for himself. He steals a glance at Magnus, even though he could look for as long as he wanted, and smiles. The pale flowers contrast with his dark hair and he glows in the early afternoon sun. When Alec leans over to kiss him he tastes like wine and strawberries.


	23. Magnus/Alec- "lavender? plum? violet? they're all purple!"

Alec and Magnus are standing in the middle of the nursery. Or, one day it will be a nursery. For now it’s just a room with bay windows and walls painted with samples, furniture magazines piled in one corner. 

Magnus is holding up a few swatches, considering them while Alec looks over his shoulder thoughtfully. The three colors are labeled “lady lavender”, “plum lucky”, and “vivid violet”. Alec silently shames this company for their lack of creativity, but then turns his mind back to Magnus’ question. 

“Lavender? Plum? Violet? They’re all purple, Magnus,” Alec says, feeling defeated. The trip to Home Depot had been overwhelming enough, but now they have to actually begin putting together the baby’s nursery. 

His heart stutters and swells a bit at the thought. The  _baby_.  _Their_  baby.  _Their baby_. This room will be their baby’s room. Alec turns his thoughts back to the purples with renewed determination. 

“I think plum would be a little much for the walls. Lavender would brighten up the room,” Alec says, gesturing to the bay windows that flood the room with natural light. 

“I think you’re right,” Magnus says, dropping the paint swatches to the floor and snapping his fingers. The walls seem to bleed purple, going from plain white to a delicate lavender. 

“Now, ivory or cream furniture?” Magnus asks, lifting a magazine and throwing at Alec, who catches it and starts flipping through the selections of dressers and cribs.


	24. Magnus/Alec- "i'm not leaving you!"

There’s a wound in the skin of reality. The entirety of New York City is folding, crinkling under the weight of the evil seeping out. The demons, winged and screaming, spilling from it like blood. Mundanes can see it now, see the horror of it. The streets fill with blood; mundane, werewolf, vampire, Shadowhunter, faerie, warlock, it doesn’t matter. It’s all red. 

The world’s Shadowhunters are combatting it, joining forces with the New York Downworlders against the demons and faeries who form the legions of Lilith’s army. But some of them know the truth: the battle can never be won here. The problem must come up from the root, and the root isn’t on earth at all. It’s on the other side of that tear, an interdimensional portal. 

Magnus knows this. One second, he’s beside Alec and Catarina, forming wards. And the next, he’s gone. 

Alec knows the minute Magnus leaves their world. He can feel it, feel the pull as if they are tied together. He looks at Isabelle, and says only, “You’re in charge.” before running and jumping feet first into the mouth of the beast. 

It isn’t like portal travel at all. It feels like his skin is being flayed from his body, his soul wrenched apart. There’s an eternity of pain, and confusion, and then he’s flat on his back underneath a dead cinder of a sun, nothing but scorched sand for miles. 

Scorched sand, and a figure a few yards up. Alec would know Magnus’ silhouette among thousands, millions. He gets unsteadily to his feet, and feels sick. The wrongness of the demon dimension seeps into his bones. He can feel the draw of his own world behind him. But he can also feel his entire universe in front of him, and starts running. 

“Magnus!” Alec calls, breathless, the hot, dry air burning his lungs. Magnus turns, and Alec can make out his features as they tilt into a frown. Alec comes to a stop in front of him, and sees surprise, fear and anger go to war in his eyes for a second before he settles on annoyance. 

“You have to go back,” is the first thing he says, and Alec scoffs. “It’s a wonder the trip didn’t kill you, Alec, this place is not meant for you.” 

“I’m not letting you leave me behind again, Magnus,” Alec insists, reaching for Magnus’ hand. 

“Edom is poison for your kind. You’re worse than mundane here. You’re weakened, your runes won’t work, adamas weapons are useless.” Magnus takes his hand away, but Alec only comes in closer. 

“I’m not leaving you!” He snaps, and then takes a deep breath, “I’m not leaving you alone. I don’t care about my runes or my weapons, Magnus, I care about you. Us. And we are stronger together.” 

Magnus glares at him, but then pulls him in for a brief kiss before saying, “If you get yourself killed, I’ll drag you back from the afterlife just so I can kill you again.” 


	25. Magnus/Alec- proposal

They had closed the balcony doors against the summer rain, but nothing could keep the humidity from seeping in through the cracks, mingling with the air conditioning inside the loft until it was cool and damp, making Magnus’ hair stand on end. It had been raining for two days, but rain doesn’t stop demons or clients from keeping him and Alec both busy. 

Alec himself is snoozing against Magnus, laying across the bed so his head in on Magnus’ stomach, arm wrapped around his waist. Magnus is using magic to keep his book hovering above Alec, one hand buried in Alec’s hair. He strokes it lightly, fingers dragging against his scalp as he scrutinizes the twelfth century Latin scribbled on the page in some old monk’s deliberate hand. 

The pitter patter of the rain and Alec’s light snores (”it’s not snoring, Magnus, I’m  _breathing heavily_ ”) are enough to lull Magnus into a stupor as well, but he doesn’t want to sleep. 

He shuts the book and lays it on the bedside table, looking down at Alec. It’s like the steamy rain has washed the stress from him, the deep furrows on his forehead and between his brows finally smoothing out, mouth no longer twisted into a concentrated frown. Before they retired, Alec had been complaining that it never gets easier. “Nothing makes any of this easier, Magnus. For every one step forward there are ten steps back.” He had almost cried, but instead they went to lay down. 

It hasn’t been easy for Magnus, either. Lorenzo Rey’s reign as High Warlock is sending warlocks to his door begging him to return, but all he can do is stand by. “They’re scared, Magnus,” Catarina said over the phone. He’s scared, too. War draws ever closer, it’s about to pour down over his city like the rain. 

The only thing that makes it better is this, here. Laying in bed at four in the afternoon with the greatest love of his life, Alec’s fist curled gently against his hip, warm breaths puffing against his skin. It feels more safe than anything ever has. He doesn’t fear the melting inside himself anymore when he looks at Alec, he relishes it. His hand stills in Alec’s hair at the thought of it. 

He waits all day to see Alec, for his heart to thud and his worries to ease. The pounding of his brain lessens here, in a peaceful bubble of their own creation. 

“Marry me,” he says on an exhale. 

Alec snuffles, blinking on eye open. “Uh?” Magnus freezes momentarily, but Alec is clearly still mostly asleep, and so he smiles. 

“You’re snoring,” he says, and Alec rolls his one open eye, shifting so he’s laying next to Magnus now, tugging his wrist insistently until Magnus slides down and lets Alec tuck his face into the crook of Magnus’ neck. 

“I don’t snore,” Alec chastises, before dropping off again, hand against Magnus’ chest to feel the steady beat of his heart. 

Magnus kisses his head and shuts his own eyes, waiting a moment before daring to say it again. “Marry me, Alexander.” Soon he’ll say it when Alec is awake and can answer. For now, he needs the practice. 


	26. Magnus/Alec- Luke/Maryse

“Thirsty?” Alec asks, leaning his pool cue against the table, trying to play off how badly Magnus had just beaten him. For the third time that night. 

Magnus grins. “Always,” he says, putting his own cue down and Alec snorts, turning to go to the bar and then stopping short, eyes going wide. 

Luke is sitting at the bar, talking with Maia, which isn’t strange by itself. He’s frequently in the Hunter’s Moon, Alec and Magnus have joined him for drinks more than a handful of times. However, his company that night is Alec’s mother. Maryse is laughing, partially hiding her face in her hair as if she’s…what? Embarrassed? 

In twenty-four years, Alec has never known his mother to be embarrassed. But her eyes are on Luke, and there’s color high in her cheeks, her hand covering her mouth to stifle the last few giggles. Her other hand is on the bar next to Luke’s, and as Alec watches it shifts over the wood until they’re touching, fingers linking loosely. 

Alec suddenly feels like he’s intruding on something private and looks away, but not before nudging Magnus. 

“What is going on  _there_?” he hisses, and Magnus glances briefly before looking back at Alec. 

“A date, Alexander. Surely we’ve been on enough of them by now for you to be able to identify one when you see it,” Magnus says, but he can’t keep the surprise all the way out of his voice. “I’m not sure I expected that to happen, though.” 

Alec nods in agreement, but then looks over again to see Luke smiling down at her, a bashful expression of his own taking over his features. “Good. Good for her. Robert’s an ass, she deserves better,” he says decisively, draining the last of his cocktail. 

“Luke is a definite upgrade,” Magnus agrees. “This does, however, pose a problem.” 

“What?” 

“Much as I like your mother, I don’t think it would be pleasant for any of us to try to have regular dates at the same bar. Could get uncomfortable,” Magnus replies, waving at Maia and taking Alec’s hand. 

“We’ll need to find a new pool table,” Alec says mournfully as Magnus leads him out. 

“With all the kissing we’ve done against that pool table, we’d better take it with us,” Magnus mumbles.  


	27. Magnus/Alec- "i was never one to follow the rules."

Magnus and Alec sit in front of the fire, leaning on a mound of pillows and covered by a fluffy throw blanket, legs thrown together, Alec’s head tucked under Magnus’ chin. Magnus takes Alec’s left hand, twisting the new ring around his ring finger and smiling. 

“I’m not sure this is legal, in the eyes of the Clave,” he speaks a thought that has been bothering him for a while. Not because he doubts Alec. Alec has, time and time again, sent those doubts scattering with little more than his sincere gaze and declarations of love. For once, he’d like to not fight for what he wants. What he needs. His life with Alec. 

“I’m not sure I give a shit. I’m going to marry you, Magnus Bane. The Clave, the Council, the Consul herself won’t be able to stop me,” Alec says bluntly, and Magnus can’t help but smile. 

“You’ve come a long way. I was never one to follow the rules, but you,” Magnus lets go of Alec’s hand to tilt his chin up so he can see his face, “I fear I’ve created a monster.” 

Alec grins, leaning up for a kiss, which lasts so long Magnus nearly forgets what he had said. “Rules stopped being important when I realized that they would keep me from you,” Alec pulls away to reply, and Magnus’ heart flutters. “Anyone, anything, that would do that isn’t worth listening to.” 

Magnus beams, his heart stuttering in his chest. He’s not surprised when Alec says these things, not anymore. But still, he’s amazed at the man he loves. Amazed that every day there’s a new reason for fighting to be worth it. 

“It’ll definitely be the wedding of the century,” Magnus breathes, and Alec nods seriously. 

“I’m thinking spring,” Alec replies, leaning into Magnus and letting his fiance’s laugh fill his ears, head pressed to his chest. 


	28. Magnus/Alec- "this is where you live?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this world inverted!malec

Magnus hasn’t needed a key to his loft in half a century, just magicking the door open himself. He never invites anyone inside, after all. And anyway, he’s always losing keys. But now, Alec Lightwood is following behind him as they walk up the hallway. Magnus can practically feel Alec’s eyes on him and tries to fight the blush creeping up the back of his neck. 

Once upon a time, such a look would have filled him with confidence. But that was a long time ago, and he has purposefully been avoiding attention for the past century or so. But he has his magic back now, he reminds himself. He can handle an attractive man ogling. 

He fishes the key from his door out of his pocket and unlocks his loft, hearing the insistent meowing of the Chairman before the door is all the way open. 

“Hope you don’t mind cats,” he says, looking back at Alec, but Alec is looking past him into the loft. 

“This is where you live? Huh,” Alec looks at Magnus then, bending down to scoop up the insistent cat pawing at his slim fit jean, “I was expecting something… different.” 

Magnus scoffs, closing the door behind him. “More beige, perhaps?” he suggests, plucking at his own sweater self deprecatingly. 

Alec laughs, letting the Chairman down and looking uneasily at Church where he lays on the magenta couch, glaring. “Perhaps.” 

“I’m a psychic, Alec. People wouldn’t take me seriously if I didn’t have a few beads and bangles,” Magnus says, petting Church’s head behind his ears and taking his hand away when the cat swipes at him. 

“Even with that excellent commercial?” Alec teases and Magnus shoots him a hateful look. 

“Don’t speak of it, or else I won’t let you into my shockingly stylish loft again,” he warns, and Alec beams. 

“You were planning on letting me back?” he asks, batting his eyelashes. 

Magnus tries to scowl, but instead pulls Alec in to kiss him. “I was  _thinking_  about it.” 


	29. Magnus/Alec- "dancing? in front of people? me? no."

“Dancing? In front of people? Me? No,” Alec says, backing away from Magnus, hands raised as if to ward him off. 

“Alexander, it’s for our wedding,” Magnus says insistently, following Alec until the backs of his legs hit the couch and he has nowhere else to go. “It’s necessary that you can do more than sway in a circle.” He leans into Alec’s space, smiling and kissing him placatingly. 

Alec pulls away from the kiss with the dopey smile that Magnus loves so much, but doesn’t budge, opening his mouth to argue. Magnus cuts him off with a finger to his lips, saying, “Just this one thing. For me?” 

Alec rolls his eyes, but then takes Magnus’ offered hand, and Magnus beams at him. He snaps and the furniture in the room disappears, music begins playing from the stereo. “We’ll start with a simple waltz. So easy a baby could do it. Surely a Shadowhunter can manage,” he says teasingly, laughing when Alec gives him an offended scowl.


	30. Magnus/Alec- "i would say key their car, but that isn't legal. i dunno. steal one of their garden ornaments?"

“And they’re refusing to pay you?” Alec asks, head pillowed on Magnus’ thighs. 

“Yes. Apparently the brew wasn’t what they wanted, so after using all of it, they decided that I shouldn’t be paid for my  _underwhelming services_ ,” Magnus gripes, whiskey in hand. “I can’t make them. Or, I could, but considering they’re a mundane couple and I’m an age old powerful warlock, it wouldn’t be a fair fight.” 

Alec hums, sitting up. “I would say steal their car, but that isn’t legal, so don’t do that. I dunno. Steal one of their garden ornaments?” 

Magnus blinks. “Stealing is also illegal, as I recall.” 

“Yes, but then you can’t be charged for property damage. And anyway, what will they do? Call the police and report a missing yard flamingo?” Alec insists, getting up off of the sofa. 

“Where are you going?” Magnus asks, setting down his drink on the arm of the couch. 

Alec shrugs on his jacket and rolls his eyes. “We’re going to take revenge.” He throws Magnus his own coat. “Where do these people live?” 

The clients that refused to pay live in a narrow house in Astoria, which has an even narrower yard. The grass is mostly dead, but there are some flowering bushes in the garden pushed up under the front windows. The lights in the living room are out, but a bedroom light is on. 

Alec surveys the area, holding Magnus’ hand on the sidewalk, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. Then, he sees it. “That garden gnome is ours,” he says, grinning, before hopping the low fence and quickly seizing the jolly little gnome, wearing a red hat and holding a trowel. 

He presents it to Magnus with a smile and Magnus takes it, giving Alec a kiss. “You do the sweetest things for me,” he says, tucking the gnome under his arm and taking Alec’s hand again. “What should we name him?” 

“He looks like a Bernard to me,” Alec says, grinning when Magnus throws his head back and laughs.


End file.
